春節歷法

　　春節時間

　　中國人過春節已有4000多年的歷史。

　　在現代，人們把春節定于農歷正月初一，但一般至少要到正月十五(上元節)新年才算結束，在民間，傳統意義上的春節是指從臘月的臘祭或臘月二十三或二十四的祭灶，一直到正月十九。

　　春節的時間(農歷正月初一)在公歷1月21日至2月21日之間游動。“最早的春節”(如1966年的1月21日)和“最遲的春節”(如1985年的2月20日)相差整一個月。根據歷法計算，如果農歷不進行人為調整的話，2319年2月21日將迎來“史上最晚春節”，此前春節最遲出現在公歷2月20日，為1920年和1985年。

　　閏春節

　　閏春節，又稱閏正月，從公元1645年使用歷理置閏制開始，到公元2800年的1155年里，農歷閏正月只發生6次，非常罕見，其年份分別是1651、2262、2357、2520、2539、2634 。

　　閏春節的過法

　　如果一年有閏正月，原則上春節過第一個正月的，到了閏正月的時候則不過節。當然，也有少數地區過完第一個正月的春節以后，到了閏正月的時候也過閏正月的春節，因為閏正月也叫正月，所以也把閏正月的初一也看做春節來過。

　　歷史沿革

　　春節起源

　　關于春節的起源有多種說法，其中幾種較具代表性的說法，如春節源于臘祭，春節源于巫術儀式說，春節源于鬼節說等， 但其中被普遍接受的說法是春節由虞舜時期興起。

　　公元前2000多年的一天，舜即天子位，帶領著部下人員，祭拜天地。從此，人們就把這一天當作歲首。據說這就是農歷新年的由來，后來叫春節。

　　時間變革

　　中國歷代的春節的日期并不一致：

　　夏朝用孟春的元月為正月。

　　商朝用臘月(十二月)為正月。

　　秦始皇統一六國后規定以十月為正月，漢朝初期沿用秦歷。

　　漢武帝太初元年，即公元前104年，天文學家落下閎、鄧等人制訂了《太初歷》，將原來以十月為歲首改為以孟春正月為歲首，后人在此基本上逐漸完善為我們當今使用的陰歷(即農歷)，落下閎也被稱為“春節老人”。此后中國一直沿用夏歷(陰歷，又稱農歷)紀年，直到清朝未年，長達2080年。

　　Preceding days 春節前

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　　On the days before the New Year celebration Chinese families give their home a thorough cleaning. There is a Cantonese saying "Wash away the dirt on ninyabaat" (年廿八，洗邋遢), but the practice is not usually restricted on nin'ya'baat (年廿八, the 28th day of month 12). It is believed the cleaning sweeps away the bad luck of the preceding year and makes their homes ready for good luck. Brooms and dust pans are put away on the first day so that luck cannot be swept away. Some people give their homes, doors and window-frames a new coat of red paint. Homes are often decorated with paper cutouts of Chinese auspicious phrases and couplets. Purchasing new clothing, shoes, and receiving a hair-cut also symbolize a fresh start.

　　In many households where Buddhism or Taoism is preva lent, home altars and statues are cleaned thoroughly, and altars that were adorned with decorations from the previous year are also taken down and burned a week before the new year starts, and replaced with new decorations. Taoists (and Buddhists to a lesser extent) will also "send gods" (送神), an example would be burning a paper effigy of Zao Jun the Kitchen God, the recorder of family functions. This is done so that the Kitchen God can report to the Jade Emperor of the family household's transgressions and good deeds. Families often offer sweet foods (such as candy) in order to "bribe" the deities into reporting good things about the family.

　　The biggest event of any Chinese New Year's Eve is the dinner every family will have. A dish consisting of fish will appear on the tables of Chinese families. It is for display for the New Year's Eve dinner. This meal is comparable to Christmas dinner in the West. In northern China, it is customary to make dumplings (jiaozi 餃子) after dinner and have it around midnight. Dumplings symbolize wealth because their shape is like a Chinese tael. By contrast, in the South, it is customary to make a new year cake (Niangao, 年糕) after dinner and send pieces of it as gifts to relatives and friends in the coming days of the new year. Niangao literally means increasingly prosperous year in year out. After the dinner, some families go to local temples, hours before the new year begins to pray for a prosperous new year by lighting the first incense of the year; however in modern practice, many households hold parties and even hold a countdown to the new lunar year. Beginning in the 1980s, the CCTV New Year's Gala was broadcast four hours before the start of the New Year.